Dear Member of Parliament Rochefort and the Legislative & Senate Committees on Bill C-39,

We are Nipissing-Timiskaming riding constituents in Ontario, united across sectors to voice opposition to Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, and we call for the bill to be withdrawn. We reside on Nbisiing Anishinaabek and Teme Augama Anishinabek territory, neighboured by Dokis First Nation, which is protected by the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850.

On Thursday, October 15th, members of our constituency gathered in front of our MP Pauline Rochefort’s office, demanding accountability for voting yay after the 2nd reading of Bill C-39 on October 8th, which is now being studied in Senate and House Committees. Constituents in Nipissing-Timiskaming met with MP Rochefort on September 28th and a few other brief occasions prior to her vote.

Inadequate discussion has taken place with First Nations and Indigenous people, environmentalists, and labour representatives from our riding. We believe that this vote was made hastily without due consideration of the impacts that, if it is passed, Bill C-39 will have on our riding, lands and waters, First Nations, and workers.

We the constituents of Nipissing-Timiskaming do not consent to Bill C-39. The bill violates our obligations to uphold our Constitution’s Section 35 Aboriginal rights, along with international commitments made by Canada under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and through our own UNDRIP Act, which has been enshrined in Canadian law since June 2021, and the original Treaty agreement made between the Crown and First Nations.

Bill C-39 tramples on workers’ right to strike by cementing a new meaning of Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code, giving the Minister of Labour broad discretionary power to end any strike (back to work order) if it is deemed in the “national interest” to do so. This means that one person, without oversight from Parliament, can run out the clock through longer conciliation periods and very short strike periods, discouraging and weakening what bargaining and strikes intend to do: improve conditions for workers and strengthen the economy.

Our Nipissing-Timiskaming riding has been home to many extractive projects such as mines, forestry and logging, and damming. We have also endured ecological effects from projects such as Per-and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) contamination in North Bay’s drinking water and surface water, which is currently being remediated. We are very concerned about Bill C-39’s expansion of Bill C-5’s powers to deem entire regions of the country in the national interest and thus, subject to as short as one-year timelines to plan and administer major projects like mines and pipelines.

Teme Augama Anishinabek Gimaa (Chief) Shelly Moore-Frappier from Oct 8th said:

“We oppose Bill C-39 as written. To be fair, we’re not against development. Our young people want good jobs and they want to be able to build a life at home. We want Canada to be strong, but that can’t happen by stepping over the inherent and Treaty rights. Last year, I told the Senate the Bill C-5 was economic coercion. Ottawa used the threat of tariffs to push First Nations into line, and we got painted as the problem. We were told the fast track was temporary. [Bill] C-39 takes it and makes it permanent…

If you look at a map of n’Daki Menan, you’ll see why Ottawa is interested. Copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium. Over 12,000 mining claims [are] already staked. These are the critical minerals this government keeps talking about… Tech got its start at the mine in the middle of our lake. Then came the Sherman Mine. The money left, and the mess stayed. And we’re still dealing with those brown sites today. So before anyone tells me how much faster [Bill] C-39 will make things, I want to know who’s paying for the cleanup this time.” (via CPAC)

Nipissing-Temiskaming constituent Ramon Kataquapit, Co-Founder of the Okiniwak Youth-led Movement, has described impacts to his community of Attawapiskat First Nation and other First Nations. These Nations have not consented to what will surely be one of the first projects deemed a Region of National Interest (RONI): the Ring of Fire in Treaty 9, our direct neighbour to the North. "Whose sovereignty are you protecting? It’s not mine,” says Kataquapit, in response to the narrative that Bill C-39 is necessary to protect Canada’s sovereignty.

Bill C-39 creates “Regions of National Interest,” where the government could weaponize regional assessments to pre-approve and fast-track “eligible projects” within a geographic area, with no clarity around the project eligibility criteria, minimal transparency and accountability mechanisms, and no means of public participation before approvals.

We the constituents of Nipissing-Timiskaming, across sectors, do not consent to Bill C-39 and we call for Bill C-39 to be withdrawn. If this bill is fast-tracked in such a way that already overrides our responsibilities to each other and is insufficient to make an informed vote with our constituency in mind, then how can we maintain our relationships and obligations if Bill C-39 is passed into law? The answer is: we cannot.

Your Name

Your Riding
Nipissing—Timiskaming Other

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